Big East NBA Draft prospects

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the ... 02636.html

The Best College Players Who Went Undrafted

Jeff Eisenberg | The Dagger | June 27, 2014



Providence's Bryce Cotton (AP Photo)

Bryce Cotton, G, Sr., Providence: If the NBA draft has taught us anything over the years, it's that there is seldom a place in the league for an undersized scoring guard. Cotton averaged 21.8 points per game and carried an underwhelming Providence team to the NCAA tournament. But concerns about the 6-foot guard's modest athleticism and ability to defend his position or distribute well enough to play point guard outweighed his outside shooting and ability to score via the pick and roll.

[Omaha1]

I was really hoping Cotton would get picked and maybe a little surprised that Semaj did get picked. It would sure be nice if Cotton had a chance to play on an NBDL team and work his way up.

[Amase2]

1) St. John's is worse with out Sampson
2) Jordan is gone next year no matter what type of season he or St. John's have.

Glad Semaj got drafted and McDermott ended up in a good situation. Hopefully some other BE players like Cotton and Starks can catch on to a team during training camp and make a roster.

1. Not a guarantee. We lose potential and athleticism but it seems SJ always has that. We don't need a guy who shoots 20 foot bricks instead of driving into the paint. We need more than a kid who can just win a dunk contest. Sampson was still very raw…he is not a polished player even at the college level. I think we are more dangerous as a 3 guard team of Harrison, Jordan, and Branch leading the offense. Jordan was good last year as a rookie and may have a breakout year.

2. I know he is. That's why I hope he plays well enough to be drafted. Jordan already announced he was leaving after next year. Could turn out to be another bad decision like Sampson's. That was my point. These kids have no sense of delayed gratification. They all want instant gratification. If they would just work on their game and become more polished 4 year players, these kids would definitely be drafted assuming they continued to improve which they likely would.

Things Sampson did at a great level: jumped, ran the floor, dunked, and had a great personality.

Things Sampson did not do at a great level: shoot 3's, shoot from the field, shoot FT's, attack the paint, etc.

We were all expecting Sampson to get much bigger and stronger and really start pounding the paint, getting rebounds and put backs, and using his athleticism. If he did that, we would have missed him a ton. Instead, he thought he was a pure shooter which he is not, and he's too skinny to bang inside on a Big East team. He also never passed the ball he was an iso guy. Nothing was more frustrating than seeing him be allergic to the paint, refused to pass to a wide open teammate standing beyond the arc, and just launched a 20 foot brick. Like I said, great kid, crazy athletic. Not a skilled basketball player. He's solid at everything but not great at any 1 skill.

Revisionist history on Sampson. He was your second leading scorer, leading rebounder, 2nd best eFG%, best offensive rebounder on the team at 8%. He only took 5 3's all season so it's not like he was trying to be a three point shooter, yes he took too many long 2 pt jump shots, but the entire team did that, so in my mind that's on Lavin( not saying he told them to take that shot(god I hope that's not the case as he'd be an even worse coach than I thought) but he clearly didn't discourage it). With him and Sanchez gone you lost both of your PFs and now have to hope that a JUCO translates. Sampson was very important to the team, because he was basically the only non-guard who could score and now you have none. Teams can basically focus on Jordan and Harrison and dare anyone else to beat them. I'm not saying St. John's can't be better than last year, but next years team + Sampson > next years team - Sampson. You don't get better by losing talent unless they're a huge cancer, which Sampson was not.

Sampson would score 12 and give up 15. Sampson would grab 6 boards and then miss 3 box out assignments. Sampson would foul a 3 point shooter with 4 seconds left while up 2 points. Sampson is the epitome of someone who is not a winning player. Seemed like a really awesome kid and of course was talented but he did so many things that hurts a basketball team. It was unreal how many front end of 1and1's he missed down the stretch last year. I am more excited to have Keith Thomas and Christian Jones playing the PF spot in the paint while our scorers shoot the long jumpers. God knows we miss enough of them that we should have plenty of offensive rebounding opportunities.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

It would sure be nice if Cotton had a chance to play on an NBADL team and work his way up.

Two of my fellow alumni went undrafted and did that. Twice.

Chris Wright: Dayton Flyers 2011 ==> NBADL ==> Golden State Warriors ==> NBADL ==> Milwaukee Bucks.

Chris Johnson: Dayton Flyers 2012 ==> NBADL ==> Memphis Grizzlies ==> NBADL ==> Boston Celtics.

Chris Wright is a 6’-8” SF with a 45” vertical leap and Chris Johnson is a 6’-6” SG. Both players have good height for their positions.

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6’-1” Bryce Cotton is very short for a SG, and he could be facing an uphill battle to make an NBA roster.

If the NBA draft has taught us anything over the years, it's that there is seldom a place in the league for an undersized scoring guard.

Concerns about the 6-foot guard's modest athleticism and ability to defend his position or distribute well enough to play point guard outweighed his outside shooting and ability to score via the pick and roll.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Cotton

Best of luck to Bryce in his professional basketball career – wherever it takes him.

[hoyahooligan]

Cotton will play for the Spurs Summer League Team
Batts will play for the Magic Summer League Team
Sampson will play for the 76ers Summer League Team
Starks will play for the Pistons Summer League Team
Edwin will play for the Thunder Summer League Team
Semaj will play for the Thunder Summer League Team (duh can't believe I forgot that one)


Older Alumni:
Dajuan Summers (georgetown) will play for the Nets Summer League Team
Austin Freeman (gerogetown) will play for the Bulls Summer League Team
Otto Porter (georgetown) will play for the Wizards Summer League Team ( but obviously has a contract unlike everyone else)
Chris Crawford (marquette) will play for the Rocket's Summer League Team
Vander Blue (marquette) will play for the Spurs Summer League Team

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

[Seton Hall's Fuquan] Edwin will play for the Thunder Summer League Team

Xavier's Semaj Christon will also play for the Thunder Summer League Team.

http://riverfrontball.com/2014/06/28/xa ... y-thunder/

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-thunder ... le/4972930

[Dew]

Cotton has agreed on a 2 year deal with the Spurs. Great organization to be a part of.

[Jet915]

Cotton has agreed on a 2 year deal with the Spurs. Great organization to be a part of.

Good for him, even though its only partially guaranteed, that's probably better than what alot of 2nd round picks will get.

[stever20]

wonder if they see him as a replacement for Patty Mills?

[realchiliwarrior]

I doubt that 39 year old Chris Crawford from Marquette '97 is playing in the NBA Summer League. My best guess, it is Memphis 2014 G Chris Crawford.